1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a method and a system for sharing a browser, particularly to a method and a system for implementing high-performance and real-time sharing of a browser for an existing Web browser and an existing Web page without having to install it by a user by embedding in the page itself a facility for controlling each element in the page.
2. Prior Art
Various methods are known for sharing a standard Web page in an as-is format by using an existing Web browser. (For example, see Japanese Patent Application No. Hei 9-254997). In such background art, however, it is necessary for every user to have a sharing system installed in advance. In Japanese Patent Application No. Hei 9-254997, synchronization of browser status is implemented by data exchange for sharing through the two interfaces, namely, an application interface (specifically, the functions of an information event of page loading, an inquiry about a current page and page setting) included in the browser and an interface at an operating system level (specifically, the functions of GET and SET for a message queue which a window of a browser has). At this time, the application interface and message queue interface are accessible only from outside a browser application process, and therefore, since a module for implementing the sharing is outside the browser, it must be installed in advance and should not be automatically downloadable as an applet. There was also a problem of having to install it on each individual platform since it relies on a browser-running OS or a window system.
FIG. 1 shows the working of browser sharing in Japanese Patent Application No. Hei 9-254997. To share a page of a Web server on a collaboration server, it is necessary that a program for sharing (WebShare) other than a browser is installed in advance for customers and a call center operator. This program for sharing allows sharing by hooking a browser API and an event. Also, such a program must be installed on each individual platform since it relies on a browser-running OS or a window system.